Immediate deepens CMP strategy, slashes ad tech partnerships for sharper data governance

“At the start of the year [2023] we had close to 900 partners and by the end of it we had around 150, said Lamaa. 

The goal is to further reduce this to under 100 partners by the year’s end, and subsequently streamline it to around 50 by the latter half of next year.

“We’re doing that by working with our partners to understand what’s the importance of using them in terms of our data being passed to them, and then helping us monetize that as well as cutting out the players that are doing things with it that they shouldn’t,” said Lamaa.

However, as Immediate reduces its partner count, the challenge intensifies. 

Cutting further could potentially impact their bottom line, as these partnerships are maintained for valid reasons. The way Immediate reconciles these issues is knowing that any negative blow taken to programmatic revenue as a result of not being able to monetize its data with as many ad tech partners is offset by the fact that more advertisers are understanding they can access richer data in a more transparent way by working directly with it. 

To reconcile these challenges, Immediate Media recognizes that any potential reduction in programmatic revenue, due to fewer ad tech partners to monetize data with, is offset by the value advertisers place on accessing richer, more transparent data directly through them.

This approach to CMPs is a stark departure from the checkbox compliance used by some other publishers. 

Here, the CMP functions as a pivotal tool for responsible data management and user-centric privacy practices. CMPs at Immediate facilitate granular consent controls, allowing publishers to exclude specific vendors from user consent options. They enable audits of data usage, immediate revocation of access for suspicious partners and cessation of consent signals to cut-off vendors. Moreover, CMPs document data flows, enforce user opt-outs and manage consent strings within the IAB framework. Leveraging these capabilities empowers publishers to conduct regular privacy audits, swiftly detect concerning activities, and take decisive steps to safeguard user data.

“Ultimately, the CMP holds the golden ticket for us because its the tech that interacts with the user the most,” said Lamaa. “We’re moving away from the idea that the CMP is just a generic way to collect someone’s consent to having a message that’s really personalized towards the users that we have and giving them insight into what we’re doing.”

Simply put, this is yet another instance of publishers asserting more control over aspects of their business that were typically handled by ad tech vendors. But unlike those opting for aggressive cuts in ad tech partnerships, Immediate has chosen a more measured approach.

“Obviously, this is a journey and will take some time as we focus on getting the fundamentals right first,” said Lamaa. “There’s not much point us trying to refine and personalize our messages in a considerate way if we are asking for consent from up to a thousand partners.”

Back in 2023, for instance, it was making cuts every four weeks or so, said Lamaa. He added: “We were removing a selection of partners who we weren’t seeing as prevalent in terms of what they were doing with the data or we did the same for those who were doing more nefarious things based on the consent signals we were parsing.”

Regardless of the specific reasons, the common thread is the connection between consent and privacy — how the CMP drives monetization throughout the business. What sets this approach apart is that this pursuit of monetization isn’t at the expense of other priorities, particularly the user experience on the site.

“So we’ve budgeted for about 20% of all of our inventory this year to not have any data sharing attached to it,” said Lamaa. Getting approval for something like that from our leadership team was significant but it also highlighted the fact that we’re thinking about privacy beyond a means to an end to hit revenue numbers.”

That’s what Lamaa is getting at when he talks about the CMP being used in a more strategic way; it’s allowing the business to think about consent in a more rounded way beyond just simply making money and compliance. 

“It’s crucial for publishers to tightly control the vendors listed in their CMP to mitigate the risk of privacy law breaches and avoid any potential for hefty fines,” said Shannon Millard, vp of platform solutions at Epsilon. “Engaging in open conversations with all ad tech partners will help publishers understand the necessary data requirements to maintain existing business relationships, as well as identifying strategic downstream vendors they may not have a direct relationship with. Balancing revenue generation with user transparency and control is key.”